This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
This Website Uses Cookies
By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. Learn More
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. Visit our updated privacy and cookie policy to learn more.
search
cart
facebook twitter linkedin youtube
  • Sign In
  • Create Account
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
  • Midwest
  • News
    • Newswire
  • Features
    • Projects
    • Companies
  • Top Lists
  • Current Issue
  • Blogs
  • Submit Your Photos
    • People
    • Projects
    • Events
  • Resources
    • Proposal & Bids
    • Industry Jobs
    • Subscribe
    • eNewsletter
    • Events
    • Advertise
    • Reprints and Plaques
    • Staff Directory
    • Construction Cities
  • ENR Home
  • Other Regions
    • ENR Home
    • California
    • MidAtlantic
    • Midwest
    • Mountain States
    • New York
    • New England
    • Northwest
    • Southeast
    • Southwest
    • Texas & Louisiana
Home » FutureGen Awaits OK
MidwestFeatures

FutureGen Awaits OK

June 1, 2010
Mike Larson
Reprints
No Comments

Plans for building the $1.8-billion FutureGen clean-coal power plant and underground carbon-storage site near Mattoon, Ill., remain on hold while the U.S. Dept. of Energy and the FutureGen Industrial Alliance review the agreement covering its construction, financing and operation.

 The FutureGen Industrial Alliance�s coal-fired, 275-MW plant would capture nearly all the carbon dioxide it creates and store it permanently more than a mile deep in the earth.
The FutureGen Industrial Alliance�s coal-fired, 275-MW plant would capture nearly all the carbon dioxide it creates and store it permanently more than a mile deep in the earth.

The DOE must approve the agreement before the FutureGen Industrial Alliance can build and operate the coal-fired, 275-MW plant, which would capture nearly all the carbon dioxide it creates and then store it permanently more than a mile deep in the earth. The plant received environmental clearances a year ago.

The unique generating facility would also be used for developing and testing other cutting-edge technology that could be used to help coal-fired power plants all around the world operate more effectively.

The FutureGen power plant would be built through a public-private partnership between the DOE and the FutureGen Industrial Alliance, a group of energy-related companies that currently includes members from the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia and China.

In the FutureGen public-private partnership, the DOE is responsible for independent oversight and regulation, while the FutureGen Industrial Alliance is responsible for designing, building and operating the facility. Previously announced financing plans say the federal government will contribute $1 billion toward the project. The rest will come from the alliance and other sources.

In July 2009, DOE officials said they expected to decide by early 2010 whether to let the FutureGen power plant project move forward into the construction and operation phases, or to end it, but as of late May, the review was still under way.

�The DOE has received and granted a request from the FutureGen Industrial Alliance to extend the project�s limited-scope cooperative agreement for an additional 60 days,� says DOE spokesperson Tiffany M. Edwards.

Alliance spokesman Lawrence Pacheco says the DOE has been supportive of the project and that the alliance is optimistic about the discussions.

The FutureGen power plant would be the world�s first commercial-scale, coal-fired power plant to integrate advanced technology for coal gasification, hydrogen production, electricity generation, emission control, CO2 capture and permanent storage. Its electric output would power about 150,000 average homes.

The DOE and FutureGen selected the plant�s proposed location in east-central Illinois from among four sites that international geologic and carbon-sequestration experts recommended after examining 100 criteria.

The site is in Coles County, about 180 mi south of Chicago. It sits over deep formations of porous sandstone that lie 6,800 to 8,000 ft or more below the earth�s surface and are capped by impervious layers of shale. Geologists say that is the ideal kind of rock formation in which to permanently trap CO2.

The FutureGen plant would capture up to 90% of the CO2 generated by its burning of coal, compress the CO2 gas into a liquid and then pipe it down into the porous sandstone, where it would be permanently trapped by the shale above.

The FutureGen Industrial Alliance estimates the sandstone layers in the area have plenty of capacity to store as much CO2 as FutureGen would inject in 25 years.

The FutureGen Alliance estimates that building the plant would support an average of 1,000 construction jobs over the three years it would take to build the plant.

Earlier statements from DOE and FutureGen expected ground to be broken at the end of 2010 and construction of the plant to be completed in 2014. It is not yet known how the longer review time will affect the construction schedule if the DOE decides to let the project move forward.

Once the effectiveness of capturing and storing carbon is proven by projects like FutureGen, building other projects nationwide could give the construction industry a boost.

ENR Subscribe

Recent Articles by Mike Larson

ENR Midwest's 2010 Top 20 Under 40

Physician Pressed for a Solution for Easing Shoulder Pain of Overhead Drilling

Partnership Cuts Down Dangerous Dust From Road-Milling Machines

Related Articles

Spotlight on Power

Water-Resources Law Is Capitol Hill's Only Big Infrastructure Action

Related Products

Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification, 3rd Edition

BIM and Construction Management: Proven Tools, Methods, and Workflows, 2nd Edition

Post a comment to this article

Report Abusive Comment


Top Lists

Top Design Firms See a Decline in RevenuesTop Design Firms
Midwest Top Design Firms Still Growing Strong


Top Midwest Contractors: No Recovery In SightTop Contractors
Top Contractors Invest in Expanding Markets, Merge to Grow


Midwest Builders Face Worsening EconomyTop Specialty Contractors
Specialty Contracting Companies See Steady Flow of Business



Industry Jobs

Videos

ENR Proposals and Bids


ENR twitterfeed
Tweets by ENR_MW

ENR

ENR Digital Edition Cover

Dec 9, 2019

A joint venture of Skanska, Corman Kokosing Construction Co. and McLean Contracting Co. is moving toward an early 2020 construction start for a $463-million replacement for a 79-year-old bridge across the Potomac River, south of Washington, D.C.

View More Create Account
  • Resources
    • advertise
    • contact us
    • about us
    • photo submissions
    • customer service
    • digital edition
    • Survey And Sample
  • Subscription Center
    • Subscribe
    • Website Registration
    • Privacy Policy
    • eNewsletters
    • FAQ
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Slideshows
    • Photo Contest

Copyright ©2019. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing